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Barry N

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Barry N

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Cell phones, economics, personal finances, even hockey, these are some of the themes from web sites I own. The most important contribution to the SEO world is the Distinct SEO Blog.
Neat 'link-baitable' ;) ideas and tips are posted regularly. Some advanced statistical info on long-tail application are some of our most popular topics. Check it out and drop a note to say hi!

I'm thinking, just one of the reasons, new entrants in the market. firms who finally catch wind they can get a first place rank just by paying for it will enter the fray. If you don't think there's a lot of those kind of people then you haven't been to sleepy Canada where the majority of business with online potential are slow to adopt any form of web marketing strategy. August 14, 2007

Try that. It includes the poster below and their thoughts on the supply curve. That's what I think will happen; quantity demanded moves to left and then back down to equilibrium. Of course, we all may be wrong :P

Regardless of elasticity of demand the demand curve hasn't shifted. Elasticity of demand is essentially just the slope of the demand curve. James is right (from what I can observe at the top of my head) that supply stays constant so there is no shift there. August 12, 2007

I had to chime in and thought about posting a response on my blog but I think I can be effective enough in a response here.

The assertion that there will/has been a change of demand in the short run is incorrect. Google's Adwords announcement has not drawn MORE people into the PPC market. If this was the case then Google could infinitely increase MAX bids and (according to your assumption) have the demand to support it. What is actually happening is called a change in quantity demanded. The existing players are demanding more but there are no new entrants….yet.

To explain with your graph, the demand curve doesn't actually shift to the right but stays put. The price point is mobbing to the left along the same demand curve as existing players bid more. That means right now as we speak there is disequilibrium in the market (because supply doesn’t equal demand—the lines aren’t intersecting). Of course, you have stated that there is a restricted supply so that means the market needs to adjust back into equilibrium. How will this happen? Those who can't afford the new bids will fall out of the market, quantity demanded will decrease, and theoretically price points will go back to the equilibrium and everyone will be back to where we were last week (price wise.)

Of course, there must be a long term price increase overall or Google wouldn't look at the change. With this in mind a change in demand will occur but only because existing market players spend more because they like the idea of getting top placements and/or new business enter the fray (those aren’t the only two scenarios but you get the idea). Just my two cents.

Call me a boob, but I don't believe edu's have any additional weight than an equally important and relevant .com domain has. Notice all the spammy .edu sites? Of course you do, they are all around, and I'm sure Google devalues those web sites. It's not the link ending that matters but what's supporting it. Just by nature .edu sites typically have great unique content and endless supplies of links coming in. A .com with the exact same situation should be valued the same. So devaluation of spammy edu's should be expected. May 25, 2007

Quite frankly he makes some good points. Anybody CAN blog if they have some key skills. Number one being a good grasp of the English language. If you an dialogue coherently (and maybe with the jargon of your industry) then you're leaps ahead of the ESL blogger (for the English audience.)

On the other hand yes, the marketing aspects and quality of blog posts takes a certain amount of skill that random Joe Schmoe bloggers with good Enligsh can't accomplish.

Solid post, comprehensive for the most part. I would have given the off page promotional aspects a bit more attention. You did mention them broadly but it's so crucial, (and as you said so damn hard,) to conduct comprehensive and profitable off page promotional campaigns. March 01, 2007

bang on, LSI is a complex statistical model that very few people let alone SEOs grasp. If the evidence within the SE's started to show that content (in competitive markets) reigns without the support of considerable link attention we could conclude otherwise. But, alas, we cannot. October 31, 2006

Agreed, however, I don't think a masters would be to enhance your SEO knowledge but your overall business sense. Rather than optimization you're learning the constructs of building strategies, etc., etc. September 20, 2006